Chapter Seventeen

Rayne

Lorn’s warmth is so close, and I ache to throw myself back into the circle of his arms, to forget that any of this ever happened. I’m so ashamed for casting judgment on him. I’ve taken my own situation and applied it to all others, generalizing a man who has done nothing but try and help me since the moment we first met.

I’m an asshole. Pure and simple.

Lorn deserves the truth. He has earned that much.

“I was there when my father died, which I’ve told you. What I didn’t tell you was that I was a key witness in the trial of the man who murdered him, Larry Corker. That man made a silent promise to me eleven years ago that I would be his next victim. He was released from prison on good behavior a few weeks ago, and I have been afraid ever since that he will come to fulfill his promise.”

“What do you mean, a silent promise? Why didn’t you tell the authorities?”

I sigh. “It’s something I’ve had many years to think about. I believed at the time that he would be in jail for life, that he was taunting me as his final act of rebellion.”

Heavy silence stretches around us as Lorn takes that little tidbit in. He’s the first person I’ve ever told this to, besides Helen. After how heavily I’ve judged him, I don’t expect sympathy. I don’t deserve it.

“Why did he kill your father?” he asks.

I shift and realize that I twisted my ankle on my way down that cliff. I don’t want to give my injury away yet, so I stand perfectly still, even as my foot screams inside my boot.

“My father put his brother in jail for domestic assault, and Larry took offense. The man ended up killing himself in prison, and that seemed to set Corker off. He came for my father that day, and I got to be present to experience the entire confrontation.”

Lorn absorbs that information with a somber expression. He shifts a little closer, and I wonder if he’s going to hold me again. I so hope he does. Instead, his eyes darken as he looks into mine.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Why couldn’t you share this with me, when you are clearly blameless?”

The tears well up in my eyes again, and I will them to stay back.

“I… I have been getting signs since Larry got out that I’m being stalked. My phone would ring, and there would be dead silence when I answered it. When I tried to track the calls, they all came from private, untraceable numbers. The tires on my car got slashed. There was an attempted robbery in one of the bakeries close to my home, one of the ones I frequent most often.”

Lorn crosses his arms and continues to listen. Now that I’m on a roll, I can’t seem to stop the words from pouring from my lips.

“I did go to the authorities with my suspicions. They said that as a public figure these events aren’t uncommon, and that Larry Corker has been an upstanding citizen since being released, that he isn’t even registered as living near me. When they checked on him, he was a hundred miles away. I don’t know how he managed to cover it up, but I know it was him.”

“How do you know?” Lorn asks.

“I do. None of this stuff started happening until he got out. Until then, I’d lived a comfortable life, doing as I pleased. I was met with the wall of fear that someday Corker would find a way to get to me. I didn’t know what to do, so I looked up as many remote resorts as I could, and that’s how I found yours.”

“You’re still not getting to the important part where you explain why you decided to keep all of this a secret time and time again.”

His tone is stern, his muscular arms still crossed. He does deserve answers, but I’m almost too ashamed to explain why I couldn’t tell him.

“At first, I didn’t want you to kick me out. A woman bringing a murderer and a stalker to your resort isn’t exactly desirable. I suppose on some level I was scared that you would judge me for my actions, or even abandon me to my own fears. It was far more likely that you would simply want me to be gone. The cops have already told me my concerns are unfounded. How could I expect you to believe me any more than they did?”

I stare up at him and wait for judgment. It’s all out in the open now. Lorn can decide to cast me from his property if he likes, and frankly, I wouldn’t blame him.

“Are you leaving now out of fear, or out of anger?” he asks.

It’s not the question I was planning for, and it takes me by surprise.

“I… I don’t know. Honestly, I think I’ve been pushing you away because of my fear, but when I saw that my property had been stolen, that was the last straw. Between that, the strange light you saw and the footprint in the snow, I’ve had enough.”

“That footprint wasn’t mine, by the way.” His words crash over me like a bucket of ice water.

“What?”

“They’re not mine. You, uh, borrowed, my other pair of boots, so when I put on the other pair, I checked. Those tracks are different from mine. I can check with my caretaker, but I doubt he would have had any reason to be on your property. He generally keeps to himself when he can.”

“So, you’re saying that… you believe me?” I ask.

“Yes, that is what I am saying. See how honesty works? I trust you, Rayne. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.”

I nearly collapse with relief, and he catches me in his arms again. He holds me close, and I relish the warmth of his broad chest, his strong, sturdy heartbeat.

“So, you’re not going to kick me out?” I gaze up at him and try to read his expression. His face is all kindness and sympathy, and for the first time in a long time, I don’t feel alone.

What a feeling that is.

“No, I am not going to kick you out. You are safe here as long as you want to be, and that extends past the month you already paid for. If you don’t feel safe elsewhere, you can feel safe here. I can protect you, Rayne. You have to let me.”

A wave of relief washes over me as cold dots land on my upturned, smiling face. Little snowflakes flutter in the air around us as another storm comes in, the world silent once more.

“We should get back…” I say.

I don’t say where we should get back to. I’m hoping against hope that Lorn doesn’t expect me to stay alone in my cabin after what I’ve been through, but I don’t want to presume that he’ll let me stay with him either.

He nods. “Yes, we should. I want to check the perimeter around your cabin first, before the snow picks up and erases any tracks.”

My heart sinks at the thought of going back there, but he’s right. If he can track down any more information, I’ll have a better case to take to the cops about my own suspicions.

It’s more than I had to go on alone, in any case.

Lorn takes a few steps toward the trail, and when I don’t follow, he turns back with a curious lift of his brow. “You OK?”

“I, uh, I can’t walk.”

He’s back by my side in a flash as his gaze combs over me, searching for injury. “What is it? What’s happened?”

“My ankle. It’s twisted. Hit something on the way down before I could grab that vine.”

I glance down at my foot. I’ve been favoring it this whole time, but I’ve been able to hide the injury while I confessed my story. I didn’t want him to get distracted by that, now that I’ve finally found the courage to be honest with him.

A huge weight has lifted from my chest, and I’m glad I told Lorn the truth. His support means everything to me, especially after the way I treated him.

I have a lot to atone for. Lorn frowns as he kneels by my foot. He presses down on the bone a bit to test if it’s worse than I’m letting on, then nods. “That’s probably a sprain. Not too bad, though. I’ll tape it for you so you can manage it.”

“Yes, that would be ideal,” I tease, trying to lighten the mood.

Lorn’s eyes are still stormy as he wraps an arm around my shoulder. “Put your arm around my waist. You can use me as a crutch, and I’ll take your suitcase.”

I don’t argue with him. Instead, I wrap my arm around his firm middle and thrill to the sensation of Lorn’s strong back and muscular stomach. He sets a slow pace through the woods, and as snowflakes swirl around us, I can almost bask in the peaceful quiet scene we’ve found ourselves in. But not quite.

My gaze darts around the forest. I scan through the trees, trying to discern any trace of Larry. An image of him pops up in my mind’s eye. I saw a recent one before he was released. His hair is longer, a little grayer at the temples. The dark glint in his eye is still there, and I could almost see his promise to me calling out through his gaze in a black and white picture.

I shudder at the memory.

Lorn pulls me a little closer as I hobble along the path. He keeps the pace slow, and it takes longer than necessary to reach my cabin again. At this point, the place looks like a proper crime scene. The front door is decimated and covered with fresh snow. I can’t stop my gaze from shifting all around us.

Is Larry is hiding in the woods right now, just waiting to pounce?

“Stay here. I’m going to take a look around, but I won’t be anywhere I can’t see you.”

Lorn lowers me onto one of the porch steps, then disappears, his head to the ground as he tracks the surrounding area. The snow has picked up enough to generally cover any distinguishable markings, and Lorn returns shortly after he left, his expression annoyed.

“Can’t find anything discernable, but that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing to be found here. You’ve got enough evidence to back up your claims, so we can at least deduce that this place isn’t safe. You’ll be coming back with me.”

“Are you sure?” I ask.

Why is Lorn being so nice to me? I hardly deserve it. When he looks down into my eyes, I see confusion and maybe even a little bit of hurt there.

“You don’t want to come with me? You’d rather stay in this place? I suppose you do have at least four other cabins you could vacate to.”

“No!” I say with a bit too much force. “I mean, I would prefer to stay with you, if you’ll have me.”

The corner of his lip twitches, though he doesn’t fully smile. Perhaps the situation is still a bit too serious for that. “I would feel far more comfortable with you under my watch. Remember, I’m not a fan of running through the woods at night in pursuit of a woman’s screams. Let’s try and not replicate that with actual danger.”

I’m so grateful as Lorn crouches back down and helps me up. In his arms, I safe and secure. In his arms, I can find a way to get through this.

In his arms, I am no longer afraid.